On June 25th, over 200 women joined us for a chance to cultivate their superpowers and dive deep with fellow top women in sales & marketing on the topics that matter.
The event began with a virtual fireside chat with CMO at Gigster, Jennifer Dimas, and Vice President, Trailblazer Marketing & Communities at Salesforce, Kristen Engelhardt, discussing growing up and finding their superpowers. Friends since High School, Dimas and Engelhardt reflected on impactful moments in their lives and how these moments made them the influential leaders they are today.
Our fireside chat was followed by a keynote address from Professor Laura Huang, author of Edge: Turning Adversity into Advantage. Laura’s research examines interpersonal relationships and implicit bias in entrepreneurship and in the workplace. She is also the creator of #FindYourEdge, an initiative dedicated to addressing inequality and disadvantage through personal empowerment.
These sessions were followed by smaller group discussions that focused on topics like building your personal brand, effective team management, sales and marketing alignment, and more. Here are some of the key takeaways from those sessions:
Sales and Marketing Alignment led by Tracy Eiler and Julia Stead
- It’s important to agree on definitions for everything in your funnel, especially when it comes to qualification criteria for pipeline.
- Unfortunately, people can “weaponize” data against each other. When that happens (unfortunately common) leadership really needs to step in because it’s a symptom of a lack of trust. If leadership is at odds, marketing and sales operations folks can team up and get the instrumentation set.
- Learn more in Tracy Eiler’s E-book
Effective Team Management and Productivity in the Digital World led by Emilia D’Anzica
- Managing yourself and finding time to work on what you are passionate about and want to learn is key. Use this Covid time to invest in learning, teaching, improving what is currently being done.
- If you are out of a job, give yourself permission to be choosy. If working for a company that is inclusive beyond its tagline, take the time to research the company before you accept the job.
- If you want to be an effective leader or move into a management position and your company is not enabling you, or is passing you up, don’t be afraid to invest in yourself and find a role elsewhere.
Building your Personal Brand led by Monica Bowie and Jessie Coan
- Always assume you are interviewing for your next role
- Master the Art of Networking: In virtual coffee chats, always ask for an introduction to another connection.
- Take on Stretch Projects
- Develop your Personal Brand Statement and Elevator Pitch
Building and Cultivating a Quality Network led by Yoli Chisholm and Haylee Taylor
- Be Selective. There are so many events, be sure to pick events that are relevant and are related to something you enjoy and are passionate about.
- Do Your Homework. Before an event or meeting, read event flyers, email descriptions, Eventbrite descriptions. You can also review who is speaking, topics to be discussed and look up presenters and organizers on LinkedIn.
- Set a goal of how many people to connect with in a certain amount of time, time to connect with a specific person, or number of informational interviews to book.
- Be Prepared. Before you meet, consider the conversation and prepare questions to ask the contact. Engage the person you are speaking with by using active listening: “That point you made was interesting, what made you say that?”
Women in Sales-Making it to $1 Million led by Deanna Lyn and Lauren Goldstein
- Learn to “sell yourself.” Be an advocate for yourself, show and own your skills.
- One woman shared being the only woman on an all male team and enduring team meetings at a strip joint (in the 90’s). Later, she fully proved herself to become the top rep and being able to “redirect” the focus and move the meetings to her desired location.
An Aligned Approach for Revenue Operations led by Sara McNamara and Hilary Headlee
- If your idea is only in your head, folks can’t work with you or help you. This slows the process. Don’t be that person, document things!
- Boundaries — Know them. Set them. Communicate them to your boss.
Tips to Getting a Seat at the Table led by Alice Myerhoff
- It isn’t always who you know who can help you reach your goals and get that seat: it can be who they know (coworkers of friends, friends of friends, etc.). It’s OK to talk with people you trust and ask them to help expand your own network of connections to find those opportunities, and offer to do the same.
Pivoting to a Virtual Strategy: Building Unforgettable Events that Drive Pipeline led by Sruthi Kumar and Naomi Ghilea
- Lean into expanding your experiences with customers, lean into using more content, leverage customer stories, and remember your tech stack is the avenue to connect with people!
Repositioning Your Value as you Progress Your Career led by Chi-Chi Liang and Debe Rapson
- Anchor around the aspects of your personal story and value that have stayed constant (e.g., flexibility, curiosity, relationship building, problem solving, approaching everything with a customer-centric vision)
Using your Leverage to Negotiate your Next Promotion led by Erin Bohlin
- Follow your tribe and run your own race!
If you weren’t able to attend our event, you can watch the first sessions with Kristen Engelhardt and Laura Huang below:
https://vimeo.com/433730628?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=114669966
